Although most people who read this blog follow me on various social media, and probably know what’s happened, I realised I hadn’t given a formal explanation here. So here goes!

The bibliomaniac book blog has been put to rest.

I haven’t checked this site in a good few months, so it felt very strange and nostalgic to revisit this right now in order to post this. I love this blog so much, and I do miss it already. We grew up together!

For those of you who haven’t been here long, I started this blog at the age of eleven and I’m now about to turn eighteen. Book blogging provided me with so many wonderful opportunities in my teenage years. I’ve gotten to review and promote exciting books, attend bookish events and meet some amazing people – from authors and fellow bloggers to readers of my little site.

I’m nearing the end of my school education. I’m off to university soon. I’m not reading so much anymore. I’ve begun my journey as a freelance photographer. I need a space to talk about more than just books.

So that’s why you can now find me at @geetakesphotos on twitter, and georgiawalters.co.uk, my shiny new blog for talking about everything.

Snazzy new site! Lookit!!

If you want to read more about why I’m moving on from this book blog, you can check out my new site for a much more coherent and thoughtfully written piece! Here it is.

Before I go, I want to thank everyone who’s read, shared and enjoyed my blog posts here since 2011. I am so thankful for all of the lovely comments and support I received here. By email, this blog has nearly 2000 subscribers. Whaaaat? That’s surreal! Thank you to all of you, those I know and those I don’t.

I’m not shutting this blog down, by the way! I’m just leaving it be. I’m so, so proud of it. It’s an extensive archive of my writing, teenage life and digital skillz. I also know that some school libraries and teachers use my blog for reference – and I’d love for that to continue.

Hey blog world! Today I’m hosting the Otherworld blog tour. Otherworld is out now from Delacorte. Enjoy the extract below.

Martin puts the suitcase on top of the tray at the end of Kat’s bed and cracks it open. The interior of the case is black foam, with custom compartments carved out. If this were a movie, there would be an unassembled sniper’s rifle inside. But this case contains a thin, dark visor and a circle of flesh-colored plastic.

I move in closer. They don’t seem to mind. “What is it?” The visor is interesting, but I’ve never seen anything like the plastic circle before.

“The hardware doesn’t have an official name yet,” says Martin. “That’s how new it is. Right now, we’re just calling it the disk. The guy who designed the software used to call it the White City. Run his software on our hardware and you’ve got the next generation of virtual reality.”

My heart sinks. Virtual reality makes for great games, but it isn’t going to cure anything.

“Did you just say next generation?” Todd scoffs. “Give me a break. It’s a quantum leap forward.” He looks over at me. “Our labs are always five to seven years ahead of consumer release. We generally stagger innovation to maximize profits. But this time the tech is too important. The boss doesn’t want commerce to keep it away from the people who need it.”

“The boss. You mean Milo Yolkin?” He’s not even here, and yet I suddenly feel like I’m in the presence of a divine being.

“What other boss could I mean?” Todd says with a laugh that almost seems bitter. “The Company is Milo’s kingdom. Though I think he prefers Otherworld these days.”

I get the feeling Todd isn’t Milo’s biggest fan. I suppose it must be hard working for one of the world’s greatest geniuses— especially an infamous micromanager who’s known for person- ally overseeing every Company project.

“I actually played the new Otherworld with Kat this weekend,” I tell them. Was it really this weekend? It feels like it’s been forever.

“And you made it out of your bedroom?” Martin jokes. “I’ve heard the Otherworld headset app is so addictive there are twenty- year-old guys buying cases of Depends diapers so they don’t need to waste any time in the real world.”

“Yeah.” Todd nods. “They say sales of Soylent are going through the roof too. Do you think it would be insider trading if I bought a few shares of the company?”

Martin shrugs. “Not my wheelhouse,” he says. “Ask HR.”

I tap the suitcase, trying to steer the conversation back on track. “So this is next-generation VR hardware. You’re saying it’s more advanced than the new Otherworld headset?”

“Light-years,” Martin confirms.

“It’s our masterpiece. Martin and I have been working on it for ages,” says Todd. Then his tone shifts and I’m reminded that, despite his frat boy behavior, he works for one of the most powerful corporations on earth. “It’s going to make a real difference in people’s lives. The disk was designed for people who are unable to move on their own. It frees them from the prison of their bodies and allows them to explore a world as real as this one.” If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if he was reading off the Company’s website.

As I’m writing this, I have one week until I go back to sixth form, and when this post publishes, it’ll be one day (aaaahhh!) I’m sort of dreading starting year 13, especially after a really great summer. I’ve done so many cool things but now I’m preparing to return to a non-existent social life and even more academic pressure than I’ve ever had before.

Sooo, how am I gonna cope with that? BOOKS!

This blog post is a list of all of the books I hope to read in the (little) free time I have during my first school term.

Disclaimer: I will probably not read all of these books during my first term back. I’m going to be so busy. But the IDEA of reading them is comforting to me, so this post is still valid, right? Without further ado, here’s the five books I’d like to read:

Haddon Hall: Where David Invented Bowie by Néjib

My dad picked up a copy of this graphic novel, but I had to steal it from him! It’s a portrait of David Bowie’s life, right at the start of his career, documenting his time in Haddon Hall. I’m local to Beckenham and this place Bowie used to live, so I thought it would be a really interesting read. The cover is so vibrant!

Awkward and Definition: The High School Chronicles by Ariel Schrag

I purchased Likewise, another graphic novel by Schrag, before realising I didn’t own the precious books in the series. This graphic novel collects the first two memoirs she wrote, whilst still in high school. I’ve read so many fantastic reviews of this relatable and quirky memoir series, so I’m really eager to start it. And what better time to read it than my last year at school?

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

I adored Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the original book and the film. It’s probably one of my all-time favourite YA books. Despite having first read Miss Peregrine’s a while ago, I’ve never gotten around to its sequel. I’m putting this at the top of my TBR pile as I think it’ll be the perfect book for escapism on study breaks.

Post Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back by Matthew D’ancona

One of my new resolutions is to read more non-fiction; more specifically about politics and society. It’s hard to stay away from the news in the current political climate, but so-called “fake news” has become so common that it’s difficult to know when and how to respond. I’m hoping to learn a lot from this!

They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery

I’ve read so much about Black Lives Matter, but only in small snippets across social media. I’ve wanted to educate myself more about the situation of police brutality in America, so this book has been on my radar for the past few months. The writer is a journalist, who reported on related events over a number of years. This is going to be a very hard-hitting read, but I know it’ll also give me much more insight into an important movement.

So, those are the books I’m planning on reading in Autumn! Have you read any? What’s on your own reading list? Leave a comment 🙂

Goodreads Synopsis: On Roanoke Island, the legend of the Lost Colony—and the 114 colonists who vanished without a trace more than four hundred years ago—still haunts the town. But that’s just a story told for the tourists.

When 114 people suddenly disappear from the island in present day, it seems history is repeating itself—and an unlikely pair of seventeen-year-olds might be the only hope of bringing the missing back. Miranda Blackwood, a member of one of island’s most infamous families, and Grant Rawling, the sherrif’s son, who has demons and secrets of his own, find themselves at the center of the mystery.

As the unlikely pair works to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony, they must dodge everyone from the authorities to long-dead alchemists as they race against time to save their family and friends before they too are gone for good.

My Review: I didn’t have much knowledge of this book when it arrived in the post, or when I started reading! So it was only when I put this blog post together that I discovered this is actually a new version of Bond’s first book, Blackwood, which was published by Strange Chemistry (RIP, you brilliant company). If you hadn’t heard of Blackwood, I’d really recommend checking out new version now.

The set up for the story was really engaging, exploring Miranda’s unconventional life as a theatre worker and member of the most hated family on the island. The theatre Miranda works at tells the story of the ‘lost colony’ of the island from centuries ago – and when history begins to repeat itself, Miranda finds herself at the centre of the mystery.

Dual narratives can either make or break a book for me – I either love them or hate them! In this case, it was a really great way of telling the story. Chapter narration switches between Miranda and Grant, a misfit teenager who returns to the island to try and hear the spirits. For the most part, I enjoyed their dynamic; two outcast teenagers, newly reunited, on a mission to save the residents of the island. [spoiler, highlight to read – I didn’t really like the slow-burn romance between the two, it felt a little forced and obvious… but I still enjoyed the book overall]

Miranda was a really likeable protagonist! Though a typical outcast-teenager character, it felt refreshing to read about her. Bond takes a lot of time to delve into her family history, which intertwines with the mystery of the island, and I adored that. The character of Grant didn’t stand out to me as much, but I really enjoyed his narration too.

I have to admit that the plot lost me a little, about two thirds in. I didn’t quite understand how the 114 disappeared and later events unfolded. It became a little complex for me; I definitely enjoyed reading the initial mystery more. I couldn’t quite get my head around some parts, but nevertheless the book still gripped me and I carried on reading. Bond takes fascinating elements of real history, and blends it with fantastical imagination to create a really inventive story.

Overall, I would certainly recommend Strange Alchemy if you love a mystery! It’s inventive and gripping. Bond has re-imagined history to create an even more eerie story, and it’s fantastic.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Strange Alchemy from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

I’m very late to the party with this one: Cinder is big, has its own fandom, and has been out for a while. But it’s never too late to fall in love with an awesome book, right?

Published 2012 by Puffin Books.

Goodreads Synopsis: A forbidden romance. A deadly plague. Earth’s fate hinges on one girl . . .
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She’s reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen – and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth’s future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it’s one you won’t forget.

My Review: Normally, I give it a couple of days between finishing a book and writing a review, but it’s been mere few hours and I JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK. I’ve owned a copy of Cinder for so long that I can’t remember where I got it from – it’s certainly been on my TBR pile for too long. I wish I’d read it sooner!

After being in a reading slump for, well, months really, I decided I needed something a bit different to read. This totally cured said reading slump – I read the whole thing in a day. I was completely hooked on the story. Meyer is a fantastic writer, and this concept is really incredible.

If Cinder isn’t on your radar, here’s the basics: it’s a re-imagining of Cinderella, where Cinder is a cyborg mechanic in New Beijing, a city hundreds of years in the future. A plague is sweeping this future Earth, and Cinder discovers she has an important part to play in scientific research, but this sudden shift in Cinder’s life is a huge risk.

I was worried that the concept would be a bit cheesy and disjointed – how do you work the classic elements of the Cinderella tale into a story about a future with cyborgs? But, wow, it really worked. I was totally absorbed in the story, perhaps more so than any other book I’ve read this year. It’s richly imaginative and I’m envious of Meyer’s storytelling capabilities. The imagery was so vivid to me; every scene played out like an epic film in my head.

Cinder was a really interesting character. Her back story was woven into the story really well, and I felt for her throughout the book. She was so three-dimensional to me. The re-imagining of the classic Cinderella character is so clever, yet Meyer doesn’t rely on the fairy tale. Instead, her protagonist is full of individuality. The only thing that did irk me was her often overly sarcastic dialogue. I couldn’t work out her intentions in some chapters! But I really enjoyed reading about her all the same.

Overall, Cinder was fantastic. It’s definitely one of the best fantasies I’ve read in a long time. If you haven’t read this, I definitely recommend you do! Cinder is richly imaginative and gripping and hard to put down. I wanted to read the next instalment immediately after I turned the last page (luckily, my copy has just arrived… brb while I go binge-read this).

Goodreads Synopsis: Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.
Their only communication with each other is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.
But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?
Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone . . .

My Review: I’ve left it a while between finishing this book and writing a review, yet I still can’t put into words how mind-blowing it was. The Loneliest Girl was incredible.

James’s latest book tells the story of Romy, the first human born in space, travelling alone on a ship to a new planet. Any communication she has with Earth is on a two-year delay, so when she hears of a new ship travelling to join her, Romy is ecstatic – but is the news she’s receiving trustworthy?

I haven’t read a sci-fi book in a while, so I was so excited to read this! This concept is hugely different, but just as breathtaking as the world of James’s last books. The space setting was so eerie, and the idea of one girl travelling alone after some horrifying events, is so scary. I got chills reading parts of this. As unsettling as it could be, this book is so addictive. I ended up racing through it in a day because I had to know what would happen. It reminded me of Harstad’s gripping 172 Hours on the Moon – equal parts creepy and riveting.

I really liked Romy and could imagine her clearly, so alone and deep into a quest that has a dark past. I was completely engrossed in her story, empathising with her loneliness. Her backstory was both fascinating and terrifying – it’s a huge, crazy concept but strangely believeable. I found the dynamic between Romy and J so fascinating to read. They communicate through email with huge time delays; that gap slowly closing as his ship approaches hers. Also, kudos to James for writing a complex timey-wimey story and having all the emails dated. That must have been hard.

I became so engrossed in following their emails, and the delayed news Romy was receiving from Earth. I became completely swept up in their story, even though there are almost no physical dialogue.

The Loneliest Girl is being marketed as a romantic thriller, and I kind of like that! I was led into this story thinking it would be a spacey romance, and therefore not too sure if I’d enjoy it. Then… boom, so many plot twists and unexpected turns. It certainly is more of a thriller, and it’s awesome.

Overall, there’s no doubt: The Loneliest Girl should be at the top of everyone’s TBR piles when it’s released. The story has certainly stayed with me – it took me ages to write this review, and I still don’t think I’m able to do it justice! There’s something to appeal to everyone in here – a riveting sci-fi story, with classic-feeling elements of horror, and an romance with an unexpected twist. Mark your calendars for the release date!

My Rating:

I received a copy of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Goodreads Synopsis: In the Empire of Migdal Bavel, Cherry is married to Jerome, a wicked man who makes a diabolical wager with his friend Manfred: if Manfred can seduce Cherry in one hundred nights, he can have his castle–and Cherry.
But what Jerome doesn’t know is that Cherry is in love with her maid Hero. The two women hatch a plan: Hero, a member of the League of Secret Story Tellers, will distract Manfred by regaling him with a mesmerizing tale each night for 100 nights, keeping him at bay.

My Review: I have no idea why I didn’t get around to reading this sooner. I adored Greenberg’s debut, The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, and this second graphic novel is set in the same world.

I decided not to read too much about the events of the book, so I could be surprised – and I pleasantly was! The One Hundred Nights of Hero explores a relationship between two women, one of whom, Cherry, is forced to prove her ‘purity’ to a wicked man. Hero guards Cherry, keeping the man at bay using secret stories every night.

I fell in love from the protagonists from the start; I want to read more about Hero and Cherry! I also unexpectedly found myself totally absorbed in the lives of minor characters from the short stories. Part four, a fantastical romance about the moon, was so moving to me. What I also loved about the story was the witty dialogue. Honestly, it’s just brilliant.

All of the stories Hero tells are cleverly interlinked and juxtaposed with the plot of the two protagonists. I absolutely adored the structure, weaving in and out of tales and Hero and Cherry’s nights. The overarching theme is about the power of storytelling for women – and it’s so beautifully done! This is a fantastically feminist take on classic fairy tales and stories.

This is set in the same world of Early Earth as Greenberg’s debut. Again, the world-building is impeccable. I’ve fallen head over heels for this setting: it’s so unlike anything I’ve read before, and reads like an instant classic. Greenberg’s artwork compliments the story beautifully, from the gorgeous layouts to the use of colour. She has such a unique style and I really love it! Enchanting is probably the best word to describe this book – everything is just so mesmerising. Greenberg’s world of Early Earth is on par with Gaiman and Pullman.

Overall, I would recommend The One Hundred Nights of Hero without a doubt. From its feminist themes, to its gorgeous artwork and captivating short stories – there’s something in here for everyone to admire. This graphic novel has cemented my love for Isabel Greenberg and I’m so excited to read more from her.

My Rating:

I received a copy of The One Hundred Nights of Hero. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.